Mistletoe, the evil plant that started this mess
by Littlest Cinnaminion
Summary: Max's definition of mistletoe: An evil hell-sent plant that is trying to cause Max to make things even more awkward between her and Fang. An abomination which must be removed from the Earth immediately before anything Apocalypse-bringing occurs. Awkward.
1. Defining Change

**_MERRY CHRISTMAS!! Or, since maybe everyone who is reading this does not celebrate Christmas, MERRY CHRISTMAHANAUKWANZISTICE!!!_**

**_And a Happy almost New Year!!_**

**_Ok, so I got bored-- which is never a good thing- and was thinking of Christmas and somehow came up with this. I wanted to make it a oneshot, but I have long since realized that it is impossible for me to write a oneshot. All of my stories have started with at least two chapters in mind. Just like this one will, because I couldn't shorten it at all. Which sort of sucks, but it's all good!! I wrote it all anyway!!_**

**_Ok, so DISCLAIMER: No, Santa did not leave the rights to Maximum Ride under my tree for me. But I did get a cool new iPod Touch. I believe this to be a little bit of a win._**

**_WOOH!! And now, ON WITH THE STORY!!_**

* * *

**_-Max POV-_**

I walked out of the kitchen and flopped backwards onto the couch in the living room, taking one of the spare pillows that I wasn't lying on and smothering my face in it. I took a moment to recollect myself, and then sighed into the pillow.

We were back at my mom's place for Christmas, and she and Ella were frantically going around like chickens without heads-- or even worse, Nudge on Red Bull—trying to put up last minute Christmas decorations inside and outside the house. They had procrastinated and now, even though Christmas was only days away, they were still setting up. And then when we landed in the backyard, Mom lit up like the Christmas tree in the living room and suddenly I was holding up tinsel and being asked to string it on the staircase. The house looked like a three year old had run through the place covered in red and green paint and then started a massive silvery sparkle fight.

I hadn't gotten a break since I had landed, because either Gazzy had gotten himself tangled in the tinsel for the _fourth_ time in a row or Nudge had taken a massive chomp out of the gingerbread house and Iggy was attempting to kill her with his bare hands or Fang had disappeared back into his room when Mom needed him to help her out up on the roof or something like that. Christmas was a load of non stop work, and I had the aching muscles to prove it.

_**Honestly, I'll take fighting Flyboys to this absolute madness any day. If I see another piece of tinsel, I may have to willing throw myself off a nearby cliff. With my wings closed.**_

"MAX!! COME HERE!!" I heard Nudge yell from outside, where she, Ella, and Angel were spreading the fake snow on the front lawn.

I groaned, still getting up. "What could they have _possibly_ screwed up? They were spreading fake snow all over the ground. It's not like they could have messed_ that_ up! You just spread some of it somewhere else to even out the layers!"

Reluctantly, I trudged outside, finding it odd that I walked out to find the ground covered in snow even though we were in Arizona. Feeling more snow falling onto my head, I looked up to see two grinning bird children flying a few feet above the house and Ella coming towards me from around the side of the house.

"Do you like it?" She said, beaming, and I couldn't tell her what I really thought of the entire slaving- over- the- house- to- make- sure- that- the- fat- guy- who- was- breaking- and- entering- would- like- it deal.

"You guys managed to make it seem real," I said, plastering on a genuine- looking smile to please her. "Good job."

As Nudge and Angel landed, Angel looked at me with a frown on her face, knowing what I really thought. I ignored her, instead turning to scold her and Nudge. "Did anyone see you flying?"

Nudge rolled her eyes. "Relax, Max, no one saw us. And besides, even if they did, they would go to the police and then the police would have them sent to a psych ward or something. Hey, do you think that _we _belong in an insane asylum, Max? I mean, we all have wings, and you have a Voice in your head. And Fang is just plain scary sometimes in regards to…. certain things, so I think that they would just lock him up to make sure that he didn't suddenly snap and be all "WAH! I GO ON CRAZY RAMPAGE!!" Hey, Max, don't you think that asylum is a strange word? I mean, it doesn't really sound like a real word, more like something in some strange foreign language. Like, I don't know, Greek. He-he, Greek sounds like an odd word too. Sort of like someone got bored and decided to mix the word green and week together. Hey, do you think that someone just sat down one day and said, "Hey, I'm going to make up some words that sound cool and say that they're real"? That's _really_ cool too. What would happen if I did something like that? That would be sooooo cool!! I could make words like corpenschnixt and dunafocious real words since I liked the sound of them! And then—"

Angel slapped her hand over Nudge's mouth, and the mumbling that came from behind it lasted a few more seconds before Nudge fully stopped. Ella let out a small "Whoa" noise, and started massaging her forehead.

_**How the hell is it that she managed to go from psych wards to the origins of the word asylum to the origins of language all in a matter of twenty seconds?**_

At that moment, the boys walked outside. Gazzy was leading the pack with a huge smile on his back. Iggy was behind him and Fang was coolly strolling along, bringing up the rear.

"Inside the house is done!! And out here looks really good!" Gazzy said, bouncing in place. I immediately turned to his partner in crime. "What did you feed him?"

Iggy shrugged, the devious grin that had come to be a default growing on his face once again. "Nothing! I just let him lick the spoon after I was done with the batter for the gingerbread house."

I put my face in my hands, groaning. I seemed to be doing that a lot today. "You know that Gazzy and sugar don't mix well! Great, now we have one hyperactive bird child to worry about."

I lowered my hands to glare uselessly at Iggy. "You don't care for me at all." Fang chuckled lowly from where he had come to stand at my side.

I turned to him. "And how has your Christmas prep been going? You done yet?"

He nodded, turning back to the house. "Yup. Remind me why we have to be doing this again?"

I sighed, leaning against him. _**One of the many reasons he was like my rock. Always there. **_"It's for Mom. She needs the help."

He didn't say anything else on the matter, instead he changed the subject. "I have something that I wanted to show you."

I raised an eyebrow skeptically. "What?"

He started to walk forward, pulling me along with him. "It's in the house. Come on."

I almost struggled, opting to actually put up a fight when we got to the doorway of the house. "We aren't moving until you tell me what it is. You know from experience that I hate waiting for anything."

However, my dark (in almost all senses of the word) Flock mate was no longer paying any attention to me. He was staring up at the ceiling, and I nearly choked on my own spit when I saw what was hanging there.

_**Damn whoever invented mistletoe. May your soul rot in hell forever.**_

The dictionary definition of mistletoe:

One: A plant growing as a parasite on trees and having leathery evergreen leaves and waxy white berries. Tradition goes that any two people that meet under the mistletoe are obliged to kiss.

Max's definition of mistletoe:

Two: An evil hell-sent plant that is trying to cause Max to make things even more awkward between her and Fang. An abomination which must be removed from the Earth immediately before anything Apocalypse- bringing occurs.

_Max, calm down. It's not going to be the end of the world if you kiss Fang._

_**Voice, you have been reading fortune cookies and old Confucius sayings too much to fully understand the gravity of this situation. This would mean Fang and me kissing. For the umpteenth time. THIS IS GOING TO BE THE END OF THE WORLD!!**_

_Maximum, take a deep breath and just get it over with._

_**I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS PERIOD!! WHAT PART OF THAT DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?!**_

_Maximum, you are worrying about this too much. You grew up with Fang. It's just a tradition. It won't change anything._

_**Yes it will!! Damn it, you don't GET it! This is my best friend!! Things are awkward enough because of the **__**other**__** kisses! I don't need things to get any **__**more**__** awkward!! That would mean Fang attempting to force **__**another**__** talk **__**soone--**_

My angry mental tirade was interrupted by the almost- but- not- really- stifled chuckles of the rest of the Flock and Ella.

"Umm, well….," was all that Ella managed to get out from in front of us before she ran up the stairs and into her room. I could hear her hyena- like cackles from where I was still standing frozen.

Nudge spoke up. _**This won't end well. Although it wasn't likely to end well in the first place. **_"Aww, Max!! Are you and Fang gonna kiss now? Because you're supposed to kiss when you're under the mistletoe, and you're kind of standing under it with Fang now. Ooh!! Can I watch please?!! I promise I won't say a word! Or do you want some privacy? No, screw that! I want to watch you two!! This is going to be so cute!!"

The only word that I was able to get out was, "Uhhh…."

Fang's lips were turned up in a small smirk. "Well, Max? It's your call. Are we going to kiss?"

I must have looked so absolutely stunning, standing there looking like I had no brain, what with my mouth wide open and my eyes as wide as they could possibly go. "Uhhh…."

Angel stepped in for me, bless her winged seven year old butt. "Well, she sort of doesn't want to kiss you, Fang, but I think that you should. Since it is tradition and all. "

Did I say bless her? I meant "May her tiny blonde cherub butt burn forever in hell."

Fang turned back to me, the smirk on his face growing a little larger. "Well, Max, we can't exactly ignore tradition, can we?"

All of a sudden, adrenalin started to pump through my system and all my senses went into overdrive. "Umm, we're bird kids. We already break tradition by existing. And so, without much personal guilt, I'm going to have to pass up on this tradition as well."

And then I took off out the door and flew off, leaving Fang and the others behind.

* * *

"MAX!! MAX, DAMN IT, GET BACK HERE!!"

Okay, so I was running from Fang. Again. But it was different this time! I was not running from Fang after a kiss. I was running in order to _prevent_ another lip-on-lip contact mishap.

_Maximum, you have got to stop running from Fang. You're hurting him, and yourself._

_**Fang's a big boy. He can handle a little rejection. We've gotten enough of it throughout our lives.**_

_Max, he's not as strong as you think when it comes to you. You're really killing him. You need to listen to him for once. And it's not right for you to break tradition like that. _

_**What the hell?! Whose side are you on?!**_ I flapped my wings twice more, noticing that I had been gliding for a while and was now losing altitude.

_Maximum, all I'm telling you is that when you and Fang finally have that talk that you really need to have with him in regards to all the skating around each other you seem to be doing, you need to listen to what Fang has to say. Without thinking of running away._

_**There is no chance of that happening. I am **__**very**__** good at avoiding unpleasant things.**_

I could have sworn that I heard the Voice sigh before I felt his/ her/ its presence leave my head. And that was when Fang rammed me from behind.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?! WE'RE GOING TO DIE!" I screamed at him.

"No, we're not going to die. But we are going to talk." Fang said, being, once again, Mr. Calm, Cool and Collected. Even though we were plummeting to our deaths with _**BOTH**_ of our wings closed.

"No! I don't want to have this talk! Now would you let go of me already so that we don't go splat?! I would like to live, like I have been trying to do ever since we left the School!" I yelled back, my adrenalin rushing back as I realized that we were only about 300 feet above the ground now.

"Well, I didn't want to have to do this, but," Fang started, then whipped out his wings, carrying us upwards. I let out the giant breath of air that I had been holding and released my death grip on Fang's forearms.

Unfortunately, the motion was not mutual. In fact, Fang tightened his grip on me, showing that he had no intention of letting me get out of this situation any time soon. I tried to struggle, but that didn't work out that well, seeing as Fang was a rebelling Itex experiment, and when you were a rebelling Itex experiment, you ended up gaining some muscle from fighting Erasers and all the other things that Itex tried to throw at you.

It was really too bad for me that Fang happened to be the one who fought the most ruthlessly alongside me, meaning that he had a lot of muscle packed onto his frame.

_**Joy. I think that the fates are against me today.**_

I struggled hopelessly for a few more moments in Fang's arms, and then quit. "I hate you. I really, really hate you," I muttered out loud, and the extra squeeze that Fang gave me showed me that he had heard me.

After a few minutes of only hearing the wind whistling by us and Fang's steady wing beats, I spoke up again. "So, where exactly are we going?"

"Somewhere where you can't run away from me like all the other times," Fang said, and I could hear the slight annoyance that came into his voice. _**Oh, this definitely won't end well.**_

I shut my mouth after that, and just focused on the scenery below us.

It was about 30 seconds later that I realized just what kind of a situation I was in. And that was when Fang's arms seemed to start burning my skin where they touched it.

_**Oh jeezus. This is Fang and me and he's holding me against him in the air andWHOAA. -brain reboots- Since when did he have such a defined six pack digging into my back? Oh, insert wear word of your choice, this is not good.**_

Sometimes, I think that Fate likes to put me in horrible situations and see what I'll do and how far I'll go to get out of them.

After I had successfully frozen for about five minutes, Fang started his decline to the ground. I refocused my eyes to find that we were going towards some mountains….

Where no one could hear me screaming….

And no one would be able to ever find the remains of my body after this talk had killed me and Fang had left….

_**Oh, for the love of Angel, I'm going to be sick.**_

Suddenly, Fang landed smoothly in the cave's mouth, and I couldn't help but wonder how he had managed to land so smoothly without having jostled me at all. _**Stupid amazingly graceful bird boy.**_

As soon as he had properly touched down, I practically leapt out of his grasp and to the other end of the cave.

"Ok, Max, we are going to discuss your habit of running away and avoiding me immediately after we kiss," Fang said bluntly, his eyes flashing slightly as he turned towards me, facing away from the cave mouth.

I was ready to answer him, but then I realized that with him facing away from the cave opening and with the light framing him like that, Fang sort of looked a little bit like an ange—

_**Maximum, stop that train of thought. You know what? Just stop thinking before your brain explodes. **_

I shook my head to clear away that thought, and then answered Fang. "I do not avoid you. I just… think of you as being a little bit like the plague which I do not want to catch," I trailed off, almost predicting what Fang was going to say next.

As if on cue, Fang sighed. "Yeah, because that doesn't qualify as avoiding at all. Max, you're good at running from things, but that doesn't mean that I'm going away. We need to talk about this."

"And I don't want to talk about it, Fang. It's awkward and tense! I hate tha—"

"Yes, I know that it's tense and awkward. And I know that you hate feeling anything after what happened with Jeb, but we need to make it un-tense. And you need to stop running from this like a coward," Fang shot down my sentence, and then his last point struck a nerve.

"I am not a coward! I just don't want to kiss you. Jeez, you would think you would have gotten that by now!" I yelled back at him, taking a step forward.

Fang wasn't about to take me yelling sitting down. "Max, I want to know why you don't like me kissing you! It's not going to stop being tense and awkward until you let me in!" During his speech, he had managed to close about half the space between us.

"You're supposed to be the one thing that doesn't change! You're my rock, my best friend!! You never used to kiss me, so you shouldn't start trying to now!! It doesn't work like that!" I screamed at him, and my voice echoed off the walls for a few silent moments.

Fang seemed to really think about this, and then he took another step closer, now with a certain glint in his eyes. "So, I should go back to the way I was?"

"Yes, you should," I said, this talk having taken almost everything out of me. I could feel a migraine coming on slowly.

He nodded to himself, and then turned around. "Okay."

I straightened up, my eyebrows furrowing. "What?"

He shot out his wings again, preparing to take off. "I'll go back to the way that things were before all of this happened."

I was in shock, and barely managed to get out an "Oh," before Fang took off. _**You would think that this would have made the headache go away.**_

_Oh, Maximum. You have no idea what you just did, do you?_

_**Umm, no. But things won't be awkward anymore, right? So everything's fine.**_

I could have sworn that I heard the Voice sigh again as I took off after Fang. _You'll see, Max. In due time._

_

* * *

_

_**Ok, so you know the drill. And that does not leave anything open to interpretation. REVIEW!! Multiple times if you want to. Or I wont finish this. Ever.**_

**_And now, I must to set up Band Hero downstairs again. Although we still can't find the flipping drumsticks for the guitar!! DREAK IT!!_**

**_I'm all right. No need to call the asylum. I am not who they are looking for. It's all good. NOW REVIEW, MY MINIONS!!! HA HA HA HA HA!! -coughs- Ok, I'm done._**

**_Peace, love, and:-_**

**_My history teacher: I could steal your nachos if I wanted to!!_**

**_Me: No. That wouldn't work. I am nacho queen. My guards would get you before you could even reach out with one finger. So I win._**

**_a.k.a. Skittles31_**


	2. Redefining change, after I cower in bed

_**Ok, so I have decided that it is Christmas in July. HUZFLAH! And so, without further ado, here's the continuation of Mistletoe that I was nearly held at friendly chalk- point for. (You know who you are, Leshawna…) Sorry for the delay… Hehe… Ok, before you kill me…**_

_**Disclaimer: No.**_

__

**And now, ON WITH THE STORY!**

* * *

_**-One Week Later-**_

_**Ok, I have seen. And I think that I really, really want to just crawl into a little hole in the ground and live there for the rest of my life, seeing *only* the dirt, which will be constant and not change. Oh jeez, I'm going to hate this. So much.**_

I was currently standing outside of Fang's bedroom, arm raised to knock. And effectively scared shitless.

I am Maximum Ride, World Saver Extraordinaire, Split Second Decision Genius, Fierce Leader of the Flock, Winged Angel of Cookie Lovers Everywhere, and other various titles that expressed my awesomeness. I did _not_ go back on my decisions. It was a "one time and done, never look back" type of thing. I did _not_ go back and rethink things once they were finished. I was _not_ supposed to wonder after my decision was made whether or not it had been the right choice when I told Fang to back off…

And I had been regretting making that decision ever since I had gotten home after our little scream off.

I had been so ecstatic after we had gotten back to Mom's with Fang disappearing into the background almost immediately after we had landed, leaving a few parting words behind. The Voice's words were pushed to the back of my mind and I honestly thought that I had successfully stopped the awkwardness between us, and everything could go back to being the way it had been before puberty had gone and sunk its evil claws into my life.

It took me all of four days to realize how completely wrong I was and just how much I had screwed up. The giant lump of… whatever it was that was separating Fang and I had gotten much, much worse.

Mom's house is average sized, with three floors (including the basement), four bedrooms, a kitchen, some closets, a living room, and a bathroom. There were nine of us in the house- ten if you include Total-, so someone was almost always in a room with someone else.

Fang managed to make sure that we were never in the same room at the same time, and made the house seem like a _frickin mansion_. If I entered a room, he was just leaving. He sent _Angel_ to tell me messages. We never spoke face to face to each other anymore, and I hated it.

The only time that I saw Fang was when we all ate dinner. But it's not like _that_ was even normal anymore either. Fang took to sitting at the other end and side of the table now, next to Nudge. And Fang _**hated**_ sitting next to Nudge, since she was _always_ talking. Don't get me wrong, Fang loved Nudge like one of the sisters he never had, but they were _complete_ opposites. He was pretty much a statue with a little bit more personality- but not that much. And Nudge, as I've said before, could make Mother Theresa an axe murderer.

That's how bad this situation was. That Fang had taken to _torturing himself_ to get away from me. The tension was so thick between the two of us that_ Gazzy_, _**the Gasman, **__**King of Obliviousness**_, had stopped me in the hallway yesterday and asked me if something had gone wrong between Fang and me.

That was the last straw, and I finally sucked up my pride- or, at least, I tried- and told myself that I was going to go and set things right with Fang again so that this giant problem between Fang and I would just go away.

_**And then maybe I could **__**finally**__** go back to sleeping peacefully at night...**_

…_**. if only I could just knock on the flipping door.**_

The Voice popped in at that exact moment. _Max, just get it over with. Avoiding an obstacle only makes it seem much larger in the long run._

_**What have I told you about reading all those fortune cookie sayings?**_

If the Voice was an actually person in front of me, I could have seen him/her/it rubbing its temples in exasperation. _Max, just go in there and do it. You'll stop having those fever dreams sooner, and you won't have to keep staring at Fang wondering what is going on between you two every time that he enters the room._

_**I DO NOT STARE!... I… look with intensity.**_

Inner Voice rolled his eyes. _Keep telling yourself that, Max._

I drew in a deep breath, and finally knocked on Fang's door. A grunt came from inside the room, and I had to roll my eyes at the classic Fang response. _**At least that hasn't changed.**_

Summoning all my courage, I answered back, "It's Max." _**Crap, I was hoping that my voice wouldn't waver when I said that.**_

I stood outside of Fang's door for what felt like about three years, and my heart ran a marathon, swam the English Channel, and then dropped all the way to the center of the Earth when Fang didn't answer the damn door.

I was tempted to just say, "Well, I can't say that I didn't try!" And then I would turn around, lock myself in my room, and not come out from under my covers for seven days and nights. That would also be ideal…

My heart kick started itself when, after what seemed to be the longest pause ever, I heard the quiet shuffling of Fang's feet as they padded across his bedroom floor to get to the door. I inhaled a deep breath when I saw the doorknob begin to turn, and I nearly keeled over and died when I saw Fang's face up close for the first time in about a week. _**Did he always have those golden flecks in his eyes?**_

Fang stepped out fully into the hallway, and leaned against his now closed door. He raised one eyebrow in response to my presence, and I couldn't help but flinch. "What is it?"

I ask you, is it wrong that I was so elated when I heard him finally talk to me after so long? Even if it was three words?

"Umm… can I… talk to you?" I wanted to kill myself. I hadn't realized that this would require an actual full conversation with Fang. That, and I also hadn't accounted for being this nervous about this talk. _**See? *This* is why I avoid situations like these.**_

Fang stared down at me for a few seconds, then stepped sideways to let me through. I let out a little sigh of relief, and walked into his room.

The other thing that I hadn't accounted for—well, you know what? I hadn't really thought this through in any way. So I hadn't thought to factor in a lot of things.

For example, I was in Fang's room. As in the safe haven for dark, silent, anti-social bird kids everywhere, of which there were not many. I didn't think that when I walked into Fang's room (silly me) that I would feel super claustrophobic and or caged. I mean, the entire place is dark. The walls are all black, the bed spread is black, and the only thing that was even slightly colored was Fang, due to his un-intended tanning. But that's it. I usually avoid going into Fang's room, because although he says that the black- on- black interior makes him feel like there are no boundaries, it makes me feel like I'm in that little box that they have on airplanes for emergency supplies that I'm pretty sure is air- tight and can't be broken into by anything.

In other words, Fang's room scares the living crap out of me.

Second thing that I hadn't really taken into consideration: Fang's door. Fang has this thing that he likes a lot, called privacy. And we all usually give it to him—you know, unless Iggy's busting into everyone's room telling them to get their butts downstairs, since the food's ready, or, you know, I'm telling everyone to get their butt in gear because we got some of our favorite furry friends coming at us from 3 o'clock. I mean, you would think that this sort of arrangement, "I don't bother Fang unless I need him to do something for me or I need to warn him about the dangers of staying here for another second, and he doesn't start prying through my business", would work out extremely well, yes? Well, Fang has always been the one to go that one extra step and shut the door. What can a 14- year- old bird kid be doing in his room by himself that he needs to shut the door, I don't really know. (Although my best guess is that Fang has been doing a lot of illegal things online in the confines of his room, and he doesn't want any of us to get involved and end up in prison or something, which I suppose is very thoughtful of him... I mean _really?_) And I never really thought much about it, because it was just Fang's business and Fang had always been like that, so I never said anything.

The problem with that is that now, since I was sitting in Fang's room, on his desk chair, and about to engage in a conversation that would possibly make everything okay again, Fang thought that this conversation should be private. Not that I have a problem with that. I didn't want Iggy and the kids listening in on this sort of thing.

It's just that he closed the freaking door. And my stomach dropped to around the area of my feet to say hello.

I perched myself on the very edge of Fang's desk, making sure that if I needed to, I could leap up and run to the door without any problems. Fang followed in behind me, and with the resounding click of the door, he sat down on the edge of his bed. He stared at me expectantly, and I bit my lip hard. I was a little angry at him, but then again, this was Fang, who had said to me that he would go back to the way that it all had been before. I couldn't get angry with him; not starting conversations was not what Before Fang did.

I decided to take a stab in the dark. "I don't like this."

The only response that I got was a raised eyebrow, and I flinched again, slowly getting angrier. "It's not the same. And it's wrong. _Really_ wrong."

Fang blinked twice, international Fang language for "Go on. Keep talking." I resisted the urge to punch him in the throat, and settled for yelling at him instead. Things tended to come to me better when I was screaming at someone. "Talk, damn it!"

Finally, I got real words from him. "I thought you wanted me to go back to the way I was before," Fang said calmly, and I was pissed that he could just sit there and say things like that as if they didn't have any completely horrible consequences. This conversation was probably one of the most awkward, uncomfortable, tense conversations that I had ever had, and here was Fang, acting all detached as if none of this mattered to him.

I couldn't help but let out a growl, and I realized somewhere in the back of my mind that I was no longer sitting on the edge of Fang's desk, but standing with my fists clenched at my sides. "That was before it got to be like this," I said lowly, wondering if any of this was going to get through to him.

I felt tired and worn out, but a glint came into Fang's eyes, and I knew that this was going to take a lot longer than I had fantasized that it would. "So, you're saying that you were wrong."

I tensed up. _**He did not just pull that.**_

If there's anything that I can't stand, it's people proving me wrong. It irks me, because then they get all haughty and start to look down on you with these stuck up expressions that I just want to punch off of their faces. Because really, I ask you, who likes those types of people?

The dictionary definition of "Error":

One: An unintentional deviation from what it correct, right, or true.

Max's definitions of an error:

Two: Hell no. Not in this world. I don't _do _wrong.

Fang seemed to be enjoying himself, as a small smirk appeared on his face that Before Fang would have probably only kept as a hinting, not a full blown smirk. If that had happened back when we were all still living in the E-shaped house, I tell you, I would have gone mad and just locked myself into my room, muttering to myself.

It was nice to know that even though the conversation hadn't gone very far, Fang was attempting to help my mental stability stay that way: stable. On the other hand, he was trying to make me say that I had made a mistake by telling him not to change. Hmm, a paradox… _**I feel as though Fang is trying to drive me into an early grave.**_

"I admit nothing. I'm just saying that I hate the point where we've gotten to now, where you put yourself directly in the line of fire from Nudge's mouth in order to avoid me, and Gazzy asks me whether or not something is wrong between the two of us." Feeling that I had defended my pride enough, I then launched into another tirade to get Fang off of the topic of my being –psh- wrong. "You know, Fang, we as a Flock are a well- oiled machine. And you trying to avoid me like the plague—"

"And that isn't what you did before? I mean, damn Max, you said it yourself. Can't you give me anything straight anymore?" Fang said, getting up from the bed. _**I do not like the way that he looks down at me. Damn it, why do the boys get the growth spurts? He used to be shorter than me! Granted, that was about 5 years ago and by about an inch, but still!**_

Outside of my mental rambling, Fang was throwing what could be eloquently put as a tantrum. At least, in the Fang way. "You have been sending me nothing but mixed signals, Max, damn it! And I'm freaking sick of them!" Except that he didn't use the word "freaking". "First, you say that you don't like change, and now you're all for everything staying exactly the way it is! Make up your mind, damn it, Max! You're giving me a freaking headache!"

He stood there, and I watched as he pulled at his hair, and clenched and unclenched his fists, waiting until I could get a word in. And then I realized that I was being completely unfair to Fang. The guy just wanted someone to hold onto and call his girlfriend, for crying out loud. So, because as the leader, it is my job to smooth everything over and make sure that everything works out well, I tried to help out Fang's case.

"Look, if you want a girlfriend, just say so, because I'll ask Ella to help you out with that," I said, and Fang threw up his hands before sitting back down on the bed, his head in his hands. He let out a groan, and I realized that I may have possibly not in this moment said the best thing.

Dropping his hands from his face, Fang fixed me to my spot with a look. "Why are you so dense?"

I don't think that I could have been more surprised if he'd asked me to marry him… well, actually, yes I could have, but that's not the point. The point was that I found that extremely random and very untrue.

"Excuse me! I am not dense! You're the one who doesn't seem to realize that I don't like you kissing me!"

Fang stood up. "Max…"

I bit my lip hard, trying to avoid his eyes. He came over and I heard him sit next to me on the desk. "So you don't want me to be the Old Fang, and you don't want me to start kissing you. So Max, what do you want from me?" Fang asked, and I didn't have to even look at him to know that he really wanted an answer.

_You need to help him out Max. Tell Fang what you really think, and stop trying to get out of the situation because you were wrong._

_**Oh, who the hell asked you?**_

But unfortunately, I knew that the Voice was right, annoyingly enough. I had put Fang through the ringer, and I really needed to get this over with so that it wouldn't be super awkward anymore.

"I can deal with change," I started off quietly, and Fang edged a little closer to me. "I have to, otherwise something would have happened differently a while ago, and things wouldn't have happened." _**You know, like puberty. That bastard. **_"I just… this change…"

I shut my eyes, and was horrified to learn that my voice had been wobbling throughout my entire speech. _**If I start to cry on top of all of this, I swear that I will to move to Mexico, change my name, and become a tour guide for the remainder of my lifetime.**_

Fang wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "Too much?" I nodded, feeling sleepy all of a sudden from the warmth that Fang was emitting.

"A little slower…" I mumbled, and I could feel Fang's gaze intensify as he turned toward me. He looked… well, _scared_, and I realized that Fang was freaking out about this like I was. You know, just not as much.

"Slower?" Fang said very quietly, and I opened my eyes, latching them onto my toes. I nodded, and he continued just as softly. "Not stop?"

This was it. The decision that would decide whether or not I fixed this or screwed it up forever. _**I think I just forgot to breathe. **_

I bit my lip, and avoided Fang's eyes for all that I was worth. "Slower…"

Fang's hand moved lightning quick from his side to my face, and even though I didn't want to, I was forced to look him in the eyes. He stared down at me, checking as though to make sure that I had really say that—_**Boy, do *not* start with me….**_—and then did the most beautiful thing that I've ever seen.

He _smiled. _Teeth and everything.

And that was also when he started leaning, and I nearly had a panic attack. _**Oh gosh. What if it's too fast? What happens if I start to freak out again? Why am I asking myself these questions like a spineless teenager?**_

At the last minute, Fang veered off slightly to the left and kissed my cheek. I let out a little sigh, and Fang asked, "This good? Slow?"

_**Oh, he's right. He was so, soo right. I *was* dense. But now…**_ "Yeah," I whispered, and I smiled. "It's good."

…_Told you._

_**Stop talking. You're killing my new- found buzz.**_

* * *

_**Oh, how I love this. Sort of. I feel like it wasn't my best, and this was my first real case of writer's block. I feel as though this has been some sort of initiation process for me as a writer, and am oddly proud of myself for overcoming it. So it is finally done. Enjoy and reread, if you want to. AND REVIEW!**_

_**Peace, love, and, "SON OF A BANDERSNATCH!,**_

_**Skittles31**_


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